Defying Destiny
by silentguardian71
Summary: Naruto had stood at a crossroad, a time when a choice must be made but what if it wasn't the right one? What if the outcome of his decision was not what he conceived it to be? Watch as a chain of events take place, changing the shinobi world as we know it and possibly changing the number one hyperactive ninja along with them. Unambiguous summary inside. Strictly NaruTayu!
1. Chapter 1

Defying Destiny

Author's note:

Good day, my fellow fanfiction addicts. If you have stumbled upon this piece of writing and have decided to give it a shot, I thank you. After all, even the greatest of writers have to start from somewhere.

I personally find this pairing does not get the due credit it deserves as you can see from the lack of narutayu fics on this site. I have planned that this fic will reach at least 60k words but the number of chapters is still unknown. Rated M because of Tayuya's swearing. Criticism is accepted. I value feedback. Enjoy Defying Destiny by silentguardian71.

Disclaimer: Only saying it once; I do not own Naruto or any of its characters.

* * *

Summary: What happens if Tayuya survives her encounter with the Sasuke Recovery Team and what if the enemy nurses her back to health? Prepare to find out as the world's favorite hyperactive ninja and Tayuya take on the world. Strictly NaruTayu! Rated M due to Tayuya's swearing.

* * *

 _Prologue_

Numerous miles away from Konoha, near the border of the Fire country, lay sprawled several logs on top of a pair of legs belonging to a redheaded girl. The carnage around her was proof to the fact that a battle of immense proportions had just taken place just several hours ago.

The first thing she noticed when she woke up was that it was nighttime and she had a severe headache. It took several minutes for her vision to adjust to the darkness and the sight which greeted her was not what most people would call 'pleasant'. She had been wondering why she couldn't feel her legs and now she knew why.

"Of all the things to take me down, it had to be a fucking tree," the girl mumbled to herself

She forced herself to not pass out from the gruesome sight in front of her. Some sort of liquid pooled around her legs. Wanting to identify what the liquid was, she skimmed her finger through it and brought her finger near her vision. She noticed that the mystery liquid's color was dark red, a hue that blended perfectly with the darkness around her. Identifying the liquid as her own blood, she panicked. She noticed that blood was still seeping from underneath the logs where her legs lay, the girl struggled to move as she did not want to die at the young age of _fourteen_ from blood loss, but the weight on top of her legs prevented her from doing so.

She then noticed her lifesaver; her flute, thankfully in one piece, within an arm's reach from her. She nearly cried out from joy, despite her bleak situation. She would not succumb to her fate. After all, Tayuya was not a force to be taken lightly.

XXXXX

Konoha

Sunlight streamed through the open windows illuminating the white room. A nurse was checking up on the occupant of this room. The patient had been brought in yesterday with a deep gash in his chest. If the wound had been any deeper, the patient's lung would have been pierced. The nurse was the only person except the Hokage and Shizune who would treat this specific person.

Naruto Uzumaki had been scorned since birth over something he had no control over. He had suffered through abuse by the villagers of Konoha, both mentally and physically. The villagers had taken upon the role of tormenting the nine tails container even though they knew he was not the Kyuubi but simply a poor orphan who had the world's most feared demon sealed into him. The villagers needed someone to vent their anger and frustration on.

Akira, the nurse attending him currently, had seen through the shallow mindedness of the society she lived in and had decided to give the boy a chance all those years ago when he came to the hospital hosting several bruises courtesy to the villagers. Akira had developed a quick liking towards the blonde and had struck a quick friendship with him. Naruto had coaxed Akira into attending him in the future. She had argued a little at first stating that she would not always be available at the hospital but her will had crumbled when Naruto had used the dreaded puppy eyed jutsu on her. Akira had been true to her word.

Akira kissed the hyperactive ninja on the forehead in a motherly way and then quietly left the room. She bumped into Tsunade in the hallway and apologized. The Hokage dismissed her apology and asked," How is the idiot doing?"

Akira, being aware of the close bond between Tsunade and Naruto, answered," He's doing fine. His injuries have healed quite rapidly thanks to his _guest_ and will probably wake up in a day's time. Other than that, his wound is clear of any signs of infection."

"Good. Any signs of chakra exhaustion?" Tsunade asked. She was aware that the Kyuubi granted its host nearly infinite chakra reserves but it never hurt to ask.

"No, but he has been having nightmares and keeps mumbling in his sleep about a broken promise or something," Akira replied

Tsunade grew concerned after hearing this piece of information. She made her way towards Naruto's room. She saw that he was having a nightmare. She placed her hand on his forehead, brow furrowed in concentration and green soothing chakra emitted from the Sannin's hand. Naruto was now dreaming of raining Ramen and now had a large smile even in his sleep. Tsunade chuckled quietly seeing his antics and deliberately departed slowly from the room as the dreaded task of paperwork awaited her in her office. She sometimes wondered why she became the village leader in the first place and then remembered that it was due to the fact that she lost a bet to Naruto. She was not called the "legendary sucker/loser" for nothing!

XXXXX

Tayuya was holding the flute in her hand and playing a dreary melody. She ended the melody with a high note. One of her _doki_ was summoned and Tayuya wasted no time before ordering the doki to remove the logs that were toppled over her legs. The doki removed the logs carefully lest any more injuries should occur to it's already beaten up master.

Tayuya experienced physical pain which was greater than anything she had experienced before, which was saying a lot because Tayuya had a rough childhood which was to be expected being trained under Orochimaru and all….

She bit her lips and silently screamed lest she should attract the attention of possible Konoha shinobi in the vicinity. She now tasted the metallic taste of her own blood but she didn't care. She wouldn't dare open her mouth to spit the blood because she might emit a sound from her mouth due to the immense pain she was in.

After what seemed like a day but what were actually several minutes, the pain dulled. She now inspected the damage done to her legs and shivered from revulsion not believing that these were her own legs. She reckoned she was very lucky to be alive.

Her legs were squished to a bloody pulp and one bone was sticking out from her knee. She struggled to not lose consciousness.

Tayuya did not blame the pieces of trash (Shikamaru and Temari) that did this to her. She held no personal grudge against any of her opponents, she just did what she had to do and what she had to do was listen to Orochimaru. Orochimaru had been the one to take her in and take care of her though in his own twisted way. She briefly wondered if the snake sannin would come for her but as soon as these thoughts entered her brain, she removed them. He would come for her or at least she had to believe he would come for her otherwise all hope of her surviving this would be over. Despair was such a bitch!

Tayuya now ordered her doki to haul her up on its shoulders as she was no way near walking condition. She screamed loudly when the doki roughly hoisted her on its shoulders. She would punish it later, escaping from this area came first as shinobi might have heard her scream. The doki started running towards an abandoned hut she had come across a few days earlier. She decided to stay there until Orochimaru came for her. She accidently dropped her flute and the doki crushed it beneath its feet. The doki dispelled because it was summoned using the flute. She roughly landed on her head. She had just been wondering if the day could get any worse before her flute broke. She just had to think that!

The sun had just come up. She spotted the hut in her field of vision and started crawling at a snail's pace towards it using her last remaining strength. After an hour or so…. she finally reached her destination. She opened the door using a branch nearby to turn the handle as she could not get up on her feet. She fell unconscious on the bare floor right after entering and closing the door behind her.

XXXXX

The first thing Naruto noticed when he woke up was that he was covered in bandages even though he was in no pain. The previous day's events came rushing into his brain and how he was wished he had remained unconscious. How was he going to face Sakura? He had promised her that he would bring Sasuke back with him and he failed. Naruto felt a little bitter over the fact that Sasuke had left Konoha willingly to achieve power from Orochimaru.

He decided then and there, that he would leave Konoha as soon as possible and not come back without Sasuke. Naruto was never the person to go back on his word.

He quickly rid himself of the bandages that were covering his body from head to toe and plucked the IV out of his arm. He winced as he remembered Sasuke's chidori plunging into his chest .He quickly wrote a letter and leapt out of his room's window and made his way towards his small apartment.

Upon arriving, he wore a white shirt with an orange spiral on it, black shorts that reached his knees and his usual black sandals. He grabbed a backpack and stuffed his orange jumpsuit into it. The orange jumpsuit was of immense sentimental value to the blonde to be just left behind. He also packed some instant ramen, storage seals filled with more instant ramen as well as kunai and shuriken. He wore the necklace Tsunade had given him and left his apartment making his way towards the last stop in Konoha before he set out for his journey.

He couldn't leave the village without telling Tsunade about his journey but that did not mean he had to actually speak to her because then she would not let him leave the village. A note would suffice, the same note he had written in the hospital.

He entered 'stealth mode' and made his way towards her office. As he had expected, she was sleeping on a stack of paperwork, drooling. He had to prevent his laughter seeing the all powerful and respected Hokage doing _this_. He left the note on her desk and quietly made his way out of the door.

The entire process went without a hitch but that was to be expected because Naruto had been dodging Anbu since the tender age of _seven._ The prank master of Konoha had to have some skills, after all.

XXXXX

Naruto was tree hopping through a forest. He had decided that the best course of action would be to look for clues at where the battles between the Sasuke Recovery Team and Sound Four took place. He saw a blood trial which seemed to be 4 to 5 hours old and decided to follow it. After twenty more minutes, the wooden hut came into his vision and the blood trial stopped at the doormat of the hut. Assuming a defensive stance with a kunai in one hand, he quietly opened the door.

Upon entering, he found a girl his age lay sprawled on the cold floor. Blood pooled around her.

Naruto cautiously and carefully slipped her body on her backside so that her face was facing the ceiling.

He gasped! All thoughts escaped his mind as he continued staring at the deathly pale face of the sole female member of the Sound Four.

* * *

Please review to let me know of what you think. I have already made a plot and if anyone wants to see it and give advice on it, please PM me


	2. Chapter 2

Author's note:

Hi, Y'all! I am actually surprised myself that I was able to update this week, considering how busy I was. Now, on to the story!

* * *

 _Chapter 2_

 _Most_ people, or at least most shinobi, would want nothing more to be as far away as possible from the enemy (unless they were on a mission or defending their village which made confrontation a necessity), even if that particular enemy was dying right in front of you from blood loss, unable to harm you. Naruto was not _most_ people.

Upon seeing her so defenseless, lying in her own pool of blood, he could simply not will himself to ignore her.

He was quite aware of the fact that, upon waking up from her unconsciousness, she would him attack first and ask questions later. He told himself that she wouldn't be able to harm a fly in her condition, but the years had taught him to never underestimate his enemy.

Many people that had fallen to Naruto over the years had underestimated him as they had not been able to see through the façade Naruto deployed. Acting goofily in front of the enemy, yet remaining calm and collected in the inside was a tactic the blonde deployed often. While it may be true that Naruto's intellectual capabilities did not come close to a person, let us say, belonging to the Nara clan like Shikamaru, Naruto's quick thinking deserved appreciation in its own right. It was only in rare cases in which the boy lost his cool. Usually this happened when one of Naruto's precious people was in harm's way. Naruto cherished his bonds and this was why it had angered him that Sasuke had decided to cut his bond with him and the village. This way, Kyuubi was partly able to take control over Naruto, as many people believed the fox demon thrived on negative emotions like greed, anger, jeolusy, hate etc.

To top it all, he had to think of his training as well. It would at least take a minimum of two weeks for the girl to be able to get on her own feet. However, this did not contribute to his final decision at all since it would be implying that Naruto was acting selfishly and Naruto was far from selfish.

The hyperactive ninja also couldn't remember her name. _Teriyaki, no…. Tazuna! Wait, why did that sound like an old geezers name?!…_

Miles away, in the Land of Waves, a certain bridge builder sneezed. " _Must be all the nutritional stuff Tsunami has been feeding me. Healthy, my ass!"_ he thought.

While Naruto had been pondering over all of this, the Kyuubi couldn't help but get annoyed at his container's annoying behavior. Blame it on Naruto to test the patience of what was possibly the most ancient being in the world.

" **You better shut up and let me sleep before I decide to have you for breakfast."**

Naruto had stumbled and lost his footing briefly, partly because of shock because Kyuubi rarely spoke to him and partly because of confusion because he hadn't uttered a word since his fight with Sasuke.

"Kyuubi?" Naruto spoke to himself.

" **Who else, brat?"**

"Umm…how were you able to hear my thoughts?" Naruto asked in a curious tone.

" **It's because I am the great Kyuubi no youko, Kurama!"** the fox stated in a boasting tone while puffing out its chest.

Naruto sweat dropped at this.

"What's a Kurama?"

It was now the demon fox's turn to sweat drop.

" **It's my name, you incompetent baka! Feel honoured that you are the second person to ever hear my true name,"** Kyuubi roared.

"Sooo… how did you really hear my thoughts….and how am I talking to you? I didn't even have to enter that gloomy sewer (Naruto's mindscape) this time to talk with you."

The Kyuubi sighed before responding, **"This seal allows me to hear my host's thoughts as well as see what you see, hear what hear, feel what you feel….get the gist?"**

"Oh, that explains a lot. The seal must be pretty complicated although that's to be expected. It was made by the yondaime Hokage, after all."

" **Even I have to admit your father was a remarkab…."** Kyuubi trailed of as he looked at Naruto's face, full of shock and disbelief. Then the fox remembered that he accidently revealed something he shoudn't have.

Kyuubi facepalmed at his own idiocy. Next, he groaned slightly when he thought about the endless barrage of questions the brat would throw at him.

Kyuubi's predication turned out to be accurate. Not soon after his slip of tongue, Naruto began asking questions at the speed of light, not even pausing in between, to catch his breath. "Wait...what? Father? I thought the fourth hokage sealed you in me…This is so confusing…my head hurts. All your fault, you damn fox! Wait….what was I saying agai-…right, father? What the hell? Wait… Is it possible the fourth hokage was my fath-..no, that's impossible. Ahhh…answer me."

For the first time since Naruto had begun blabbing, Naruto noticed that Kyuubi had not spoken for a while. He wondered if Kurama had cut the link to talk to him telepathically. Naruto was opening his mouth to continue his rant but Kurama beat him to the chase.

" **You are not ready for the answers yet, and this is neither the time nor the place to talk about these things. Don't you have more pressing matters right now, for instance, making sure the girl in front of you doesn't die, perhaps?"** Kurama asked in a mocking tone.

"Yeah…"

Kurama sensed the slight hesitation in the boys tone. **"Don't worry brat. She won't kill you in your sleep, if that's what you're thinking. I'll make sure that she doesn't…,"** wanting to elaborate, Kurama continued , **"not because I care about you or anything, It's just that I would be greatly inconvenienced if you die as I'll have to wait several decades before I am able to manifest physically in your world."**

Naruto hesitated before answering, "It's not that…It's just that I think I'll be better off taking her to Konoha for treatment, I don't know the first thing about medical stuff and I haven't exactly read the book, "How to take care of a girl you found in the forest who also might kill you."

Kurama rolled his eyes at this, not like the blonde could see it though. **"Don't worry though; she isn't exactly in the position to kill you. As for your idea of taking her to Konoha concerns, let me ask you, do you really think your village will treat her better…hum? Tsunade might try to help her, but the civilians would take none of that. Even the hokage cannot go against the whole village's wishes. The civilians would most likely not take kindly to the fact that this girl helped in the invasion of the Leaf as well as the supposed 'kidnapping' of the last Uchiha, who they hail as a hero, god knows for what reason, who isn't a nuke nin and would probably execute your red headed girlfriend** ," Kyuubi teased, not being to help himself.

Naruto's cheeks turned the color of the aforementioned girl's hair. Kyuubi saw this and began to laugh, adding to the blonde's embarrassment.

"It's no- not l…like that, you dumb fox!" Naruto screamed in frustration.

Kyuubi ignored Naruto's recent comment and continued snickering. When the fox had regained his senses, Kurama said **, "Whatever. By the way, the girl's name is Tayuya and unless you want her to die, you better take care of her yourself. I'm feeling generous, so I'll offer you the medical experience I have. Who knows, maybe you might look back at this moment in the future, with redheaded children annoying the hell out of you and wonder what life would have been like if you hadn't taken care of her."**

Not wanting to listen to Naruto's rebuttal at his statement, Kurama cut off the mental link between him and his container.

It took a moment for Naruto to understand the implications of such a comment and when he did, he sighed before muttering, "What a troublesome fox." Realizing that Shikamaru behavior had began to rub off on him, Naruto sighed again before slumping on the couch nearby.

XXXXX

So that was why Naruto was in his current situation, taking care of the red headed girl he had stumbled across 3 days earlier.

He dabbed a wet towel on the girl's forehead before placing an ice pack on it. Tayuya had developed a slight fever the day before. Naruto, like a mother hen, began to frantically pace the room, worrying and wondering what to do. He had heard of infections from baa chan and knew how dangerous they could be, at least to a non-jinchuriki, anyway. A tailed beast was able to cure any infection so that's why Naruto did not know firsthand how severe they were. Kurama calmed him down, saying that it wasn't an infection but just a slight fever, probably because of chakra exhaustion.

Kurama, true to his word, had been offering his help when Naruto needed it. Naruto was wondering why exactly the demon fox was doing this, not that Naruto was complaining though.

Kurama had even told Naruto to make a pair of crutches as well as casts for the girl's legs. Her legs were now looking more like, well, _legs_ instead of the bloody pulp they had been just days before. He had set the girl's knee bone correctly and to do that, he had to rebreak it. Talk about gritty work for a person with no medical knowledge, whatsoever.

Kurama had said there wasn't much more he could do and time would heal the rest of her injuries.

He noticed the ice pack on her forehead had started melting. He sat up from his position and groaned. His muscles were stiff because he had spent the last 3 days sitting on a couch while taking care of Tayuya. He stretched for a while, wanting to regain feeling in his arms and legs. Muscles still aching, he made his way to the kitchen.

The hut was surprisingly, adequately stocked up with food that would last 2 people a year or so. Cans and cans of fish, mushrooms and beef stew were found in the kitchen cabinets. He found no ramen though and briefly wondered if the residents had been evil, not keeping such a _necessary_ thing in their household .The electricity was also working and there was also a fridge filled with water bottles and sodas alike. All of this made Naruto wonder whether this hut had been abandoned just recently but everything else except the consumables suggested otherwise. The doors were filled with cobwebs and there was so much dust that it had to be accumulating since at least 5 years. Now, Naruto was no neat freak but all this dust even made him cringe. There was also evidence that a fight had taken place in the living room. He found dried blood, which was not Tayuya's, and broken bottles as well as a few kunai and shuriken, although the mess was long gone by now. Naruto had cleaned the house the next day after arriving.

Deciding this was a mystery for another time, he stowed this information in the far corner of his mind.

The wooden hut was a single storied hut obviously meant for housing a couple as it had only one bedroom with one king sized bed occupying two-thirds of the room. There were two side tables which were also bare of any decorations or commodities. There was also a dresser and a bathroom on the right side of the bed. The whole hut was painted white on the inside giving it a rather dull look. Naruto thought a change of color, perhaps orange, would look good on the walls. Figures…

There was also a living room with two couches in the center, facing each other with a small table in between them. Lastly there was the kitchen, a rather small one at that. It only had a fridge, a sink and a small gas stove with a cabinet above the stove and one beneath it. Naruto figured the kitchen was probably no bigger than 2 by 2 meters.

Dumping the old ice bag in the bin, Naruto grabbed a new bag from the cabinet and opened the fridge's door. He now opened the top compartment of the fridge to take some ice out but was disappointed when he found none.

After filling the bag with water and placing it in the top compartment so that the water would freeze, he sighed tiredly. It had been a long day. Kurama had warned him that Tayuya would wake up soon so he could not let his guard down. The fox had also warned him to not let anything sharp, like a kunai or broken glass for example, be within an arm's reach from her unless he wanted to risk getting stabbed _twice_ in the same week.

He tiredly made his way to the bedroom, wanting to go to the washroom. As the moon's position indicated it was close to midnight. He glanced at the couch on his way, the living room being slightly illuminated by a small lamp that was placed on the table in between the two couches. He saw a pair of chocolate brown eyes glaring at him intensely. If looks could kill, Naruto would have died a horrendous death.

* * *

That's it for today. Sorry for the cliffhangers though. R&R.


	3. Chapter 3

Author's note:

I've decided to change my user name, for personal reasons. Before you decide to kill me for taking so long to update, I've got two words to say: Writer's block! Btw, this chapter is also slightly longer than the other two.

 **Italics represent inner thoughts. Jutsu names will be in English except for the very mainstream ones like Kage Bunshin no Jutsu, Kushiyose no Jutsu etc.**

Reached the 2000 hits mark (yay!). Please review to let me know if you liked or hated the chapter and if possible, give me some tips on my writing style as I try to improve every day. Also, please let me know if you prefer I write this fic in a first person point of view or a third person point of view? Now, without further ado, on to the story!

* * *

 _Chapter 3_

' _What did I do to deserve this?'_ was the thought that flashed through the Godaime Hokage's mind over and over again as she scribbled furiously with one hand while her other hand was occupied stamping these so called 'important documents' related to the villager's petty problems and worst of all, the stack of paperwork resting on her desk kept on growing.

One particular document caught her eye. Unlike the rest of the documents which were written in script writing, the writing on this particular piece was nothing short of unreadable, to put it mildly. The writing appeared to be written haphazardly and only one shinobi was daring enough to address the Hokage as Baa-chan.

Tsunade raised an eyebrow at this because as far as she knew, Naruto was still in the hospital, recovering, as she received no reports from the nurses of any patient missing from the hospital.

Letter still in hand, she shunshined towards Naruto's allotted room in the hospital. She sighed in relief when she found Naruto to be sleeping, a blanket covering him from neck to toe, but she knew better to just believe her eyes.

Careful to not make any noise, the Hokage took out a kunai from the weapons pouch strapped to her knee and made her way towards the bed. She then poked Naruto, only for Naruto to poof away leaving a small cloud of smoke behind. This caused a vein to throb on Tsunade's forehead.

Curious, she averted her eyes from the empty hospital bed and took out the letter from the envelope and started reading….

' _To Baa-chan,_

 _When you read this letter, I will be long gone by then so don't bother sending anyone after me. I intend to keep my promise to Sakura-chan before I face her, as I never go back on my word! In order to bring Sasuke back, I will have to train so it may take me around 2 years before I set foot in Konoha again. I'll not give much details of where I will be going but I may give Gaara a visit. Please, don't worry the rest of the rookie nine by telling them this and just inform them that you sent me on a mission. If you can, try to keep the council from labeling me as a missing nin and if you can't, I'll understand. This is very important to me. I will miss all of you guys but I intend to follow my nindo so you can't persuade me to return to the village._

 _From,_

 _Naruto Uzumaki'_

A tear escaped her eyes but she promptly swiped at it from the back of her sleeve. There was no time to be moping around when duty called.

"Anbu, REPORT!" She bellowed. Not long after, two Anbu wearing a cat and bear mask shunshined into the room, "Cat, summon Jiraiya in my office and if you find him outside a hot spring, you have full authority to give him a beating on my behalf. Bear, inform the shinobi council that there is a meeting in an hour that requires all of the clan head's presense as the matter to be discussed is of utmost importance. Do not let the civilian council hear of this, understand?"

Bear nodded and then both Anbu leapt out of the window to perform the tasks assigned to them, causing Tsunade to contemplate the invention of doors.

Snapping out of her musing and becoming angry at the situation, she gathered chakra in her fists before she punched the unlucky wall closest to her. This caused said wall to crack from the pressure.

Meanwhile, the patients in the hospital were wondering if an earthquake had occurred.

XXXXX

' _Damn, I'm hungry!'_ was the thought that greeted her when Tayuya opened her eyes, only to see the 'small sun' shining on her face, causing her to shut them again. _Wait! Since when is the sun small? Am I dead? Is this hell?_

To satisfy her curiosity, she blinked, a bit reluctantly, before facing the source of her discomfort. What she had assumed to be the sun was actually a lamp. This made her confused. _What the hell?! Sakon and Ukon must have forgot to switch if off last night, seeing as how they love the darkness and all. Fucking masochists..._

She waited for her eyes to adjust to the dim light and before long; she was scanning the room she was in. The memories before she had fallen unconscious flashed through her mind. _That explains it, but I swear I fell on the floor, not the couch. Nah, I must not be in my right senses just yet._

Despite telling herself this, something was not adding up. She tried to think of a situation which had left her in her current predicament, but a searing headache was preventing her from thinking straight.

While all this was going through the girl's mind, she failed to notice that the pain in her legs had dulled, the pain being only slightly uncomfortable instead of the intolerable pain she had experienced before passing out.

The sound of footsteps halted Tayuya's thought process. She turned her head slightly and saw a boy wearing a comical orange jumpsuit walking out of a room, which she assumed to be a kitchen, if the fridge in the edge of her vision was anything to go by. The boy looked like a shinobi, something she concluded after seeing a weapons pouch strapped to his waist. The said boy had cerulean blue eyes and spiky blonde hair with a hitai-ate tied on his forehead, but from which village he was from, she could not see. Something told her that she had seen him somewhere before but exactly when and where, she could not remember. He was not particularly impressive, shorter than even her, which was saying a lot! Hell, she was the, no, had been the shortest girl in her village. She could have easily taken him on, if her legs weren't do fucked up, that is. She now became wary because if the boy tried to anything to her, she wouldn't be able to stop him, but Kami be damned if she wouldn't put up a fight!

She tried to get up, but failed as she had no strength in her now frail body. Even if she could get in a sitting position, it wasn't like she could run or anything. She still hadn't noticed her 'not so mangled up' legs.

She now thought of intimidating the boy so she put up the fiercest glare she could muster on her face before glaring at the boy. The said boy glanced at her for the first time since he had entered the lounge, as if noticing the killer intent the red headed girl was radiating. She noticed, with slight satisfaction, that the blonde was paralyzed. She was about to smirk in victory before…

"You're awake!" Naruto exclaimed, recovering from his initial shock of seeing the red headed girl awake, "Finally, you lazy ass!"

Tayuya grew a tick mark on her forehead and forgetting all about the danger the boy might pose, "Who the fuck do you think you are to call me a lazy ass, you faggot." She retorted

Naruto just grinned as if he hadn't heard her which made Tayuya even madder. "Naruto Uzumaki, the future Hokage, at your service!" He said with a salute, still grinning. Then Naruto finally remembered the 'insult' she had thrown at him just now. He blushed, "And I only kissed Sasuke teme ONCE," Naruto retorted, his voice an octave higher than before, "Also, it was a damn accident, for Kami's sake!" He finished, almost screaming now.

Tayuya sighed, her anger at the situation already forgotten, not getting the usual pleasure she usually did from riling someone. ' _What the hell! Why did I throw my plan of intimidating him down the drain so quickly? And it was working… I think…'_

Unknown to Tayuya, Naruto's charm of bringing the best out of people had already begun working on her as her resolve of resisting weakened. Tayuya contemplated, " _What's the point? If that damn snake bastard still hasn't sent someone to get me, he has already given up on me. Orochimaru doesn't take failure lightly and as soon as he comes down from cloud nine after finally getting his filthy hands on the Uchiha brat (she couldn't remember his name), or more accurately, his Sharingan, the snake will probably send someone to finish the job the sand bitch couldn't. He's probably noticed that I'm still alive thanks to his curse mark on me. Fuck you, Curse mark!'_ She absentmindedly touched the region between the neck and the shoulder through her top _… 'If I let shithead over here take me to Konoha, then I'll probably get interrogated and abused before finally getting executed. Even if I do manage to escape from shithead, I'll probably not last long seeing as I have no place to go. Geez, nice options to choose from! Why does Kami hate me so much?'_

Ironically, the idea of a quick and easy death had begun to appeal to her after she had weighed down her options. It was now that Naruto decided to interrupt her line of thought. Naruto had just been standing there as a thoughtful look had appeared on the girl's face and remembering Ero-sennin's advice of giving a girl her space (Unlikely right? sue me) was polite but after she had remained quiet for at least 5 minutes, he became frustrated. "Look Tayuya, I'm not going to harm you."

"Humph!" Tayuya said, "Like I'll believe tha-"

Recognition dawned on her. She remembered that voice. "You're the shinobi that kept on exclaiming about how we captured your Sasuke-Kun, aren't you. Ha, you weren't able to retrieve him, were you, shithead. So much for your nindo you kept shouting abou-" The glare Naruto sent towards her told her that antagonizing him any further would not be a smart move on her part, so she decided to stay quiet.

After a while, Naruto's face again turned into a smile as if this had never happened, "Believe it, I won't harm you. As a matter of fact, I'm going to take care of you an-…"

"So, basically you're going to take care of me so I'm all fit and healthy for the interrogation?" Tayuya interrupted, huffing a bit because she had become tired after all that thinking and talking and more thinking on a completely empty stomach, "Cuz I sure ain't going to that shitty village of yours willingly!"

Tayuya's guard dropped for a second and Naruto now saw pain and loneliness in her eyes that resembled his own when he looked at himself in the mirror when he was alone in his apartment. She now whispered under her breath, so low that Naruto wouldn't even have heard her speak if Kurama didn't grant him slightly enhanced senses, "It would be better if you just kill me now…" She regained her façade and continued glaring at him.

Naruto replied, careful to not make her any more wary now that he knew she had good reason to be suspicious of everyone. She must have led a hard life filled with betrayals, "Ok, listen well and don't interrupt me this time. You aren't going to die on my watch, ok? I didn't spend 3 damn days taking care of you without even taking a break to sleep just so you could give up on life. I'm not going to take you to Konoha. I'll take care of you until your legs are feeling better and you can go wherever you want to go, I won't stop you."

For the first time since she woke up, she glanced at her legs and found them bandaged. She almost gasped at surprise because of this. No one had ever shown any type of concern for her well being before, till now, and the person who finally did was her enemy. She almost laughed because of the cruel irony. She also now noticed that there wasn't any pain. Her legs were stiff and sore, if anything. Tayuya eyed him warily, searching his eyes for any signs of betrayal and when she found none, she sighed and hung her head. "Fine. I'll believe you for now, since I have no other fucking choice but if you betray me, I'll…" She let the threat hang.

Naruto chuckled nervously, "I won't. You can count on me."

A moment of silence followed this. Not liking the eeriness, Naruto said, "Sooo… you planning to go after Orochimaru after your legs are fully healed?"

"Hahahaha…Nice one shithead!" Tayuya said while laughing sarcastically, "I've failed him so I count myself lucky that I'm even alive… the moment I show my face to the snake bastard, I'm dead."

Naruto nodded, having expected this type of answer. After all the things he had heard about Orochimaru from Jiraiya, he wouldn't put it past the snake to treat even his own subordinates like scum. "So where will you go?" He inquired

"I do- don't know," Tayuya stuttered, having not thought that far ahead. _'Damn it…what's wrong with me? Why am I showing any type of weakness to this shithead? I must be tired…yeah, that's probably it.'_

Naruto was shocked but quickly put on his thinking hat. _'Should I bring her to Konoha once she's fully healed? Nope, not a good idea. Kurama said the villagers will probably kill her, seeing as how she helped invade the village. WAIT…does that mean she helped in killing old man Jiji?'_

" **Snap out it, brat!"** Kyuubi interrupted, in his mind, **"Do you even want to rescue your rival? She's probably got valuable information on Orochimaru's fighting style and the location of his bases and if I know anything about him, he'll probably teach all that he knows to Sasuke. If you figure out the snake's fighting style, you can figure out Sasuke's fighting style next time you meet, giving you an advantage."**

Naruto took a moment to comprehend this. "You're right. Thanks! I knew you weren't as dumb as you look, furball!"

Kurama sweat dropped. **"Look who's talking. Hehehe."** With that said, Kurama put his head on his arms and dozed off.

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" Naruto exclaimed but when he received no reply, he grumbled in annoyance and was thinking of a way to wake the fox… 'I'll use that basic Katon Jutsu pervy sage taught me on Kurama. That'll teach the dumb fox to mess with m-.'

A pillow hit Naruto's head with surprising force, sending the blonde tumbling to the floor, effectively interrupting his musing.

He saw Tayuya looking at him with wild eyes. "What the fuck do you think you were doing shithead, ignoring me like that?" Tayuya spat, "I've been shouting at you for the last few minutes and you kept on staring at the wall. Don't scare me like that, I thought Orochimaru had come himself to finish me off, baka!"

Naruto, now sweating nervously because of fear of his life, waved his hands in front of his head in a comical way, "I was just talking to myself."

Tayuya rolled her eyes but kept glaring at him. "Try again, shithead" Tayuya said in a sickeningly sweet voice making Naruto shiver.

Naruto raised his hand to scratch the back of his head, "Umm… I'm tired, ok?" Seeing Tayuya grab the lamp beside her and about to throw it at him, Naruto yelped. "Please don't kill me!" In a last ditch effort, he put on his puppy dog face and pouted at her.

Tayuya sighed upon seeing this and placed the lamp in its allotted space. "Consider yourself lucky that I need you," she said, "for a while, that is," She finished.

Seeing that he was out of danger, the blonde got back on his feet and smiled as if nothing had happened. "Glad to see we're getting along so well," he said.

"Don't get over your head," she scoffed, "I'm not going to try to get along with you as I'm out of here once my legs heal."

"And go where exactly?" Naruto inquired

Tayuya opened her mouth to speak but closed it when she realized she had no answer, something that didn't go unnoticed by her companion.

Tayuya saw him looking at her with… _wait, is that pity in his eyes_ … _oh, I'm going to teach that fucker a lesson for thinking I'm some damsel in distress and he's my knight in shining armor…sheesh, what a cliché!_

Then he said something that shocked her, leaving her hollow after all the anger drained away from her system. "You can stay with me, if you like. I'll be on the move constantly. Once your legs are healed, we can start the journey. Take some time to think about my offer and answer me when you feel like it. For now, I'm going to sleep. Do you need anything?"

Tayuya was still a bit shocked so she just nodded her head and asked for some water. Naruto turned around on his heels and walked towards the kitchen. ' _Here I thought he was trying to get rid me as soon as possible. Hell, even I know that I'm not the most 'fun'_ (to put it kindly) _person to be around with.'_

Naruto came into the lounge again, this time with a glass of water in his hand but instead of giving it to her; he took it to the bedroom. Tayuya called after him, "Hey, I'm over here ya know." Naruto stayed silent, giving no indication he had heard her.

After he placed the glass on the bedside table, he went over to the couch Tayuya lay in and scooped her up in his arms effortlessly, eliciting a small shriek of surprise and alarm from her, "What the fuck are you doing?!" Tayuya screeched, "Let me down…no, you are not going to take advantage of me… I knew you were too good to be true." By now, a tear had escaped her eyes.

Naruto saw this and decided then and there he would try his best to make her more trusting with people even though he knew it would be a hard endeavor. She probably had good reason to be naturally suspicious of everyone as humans can be very cruel when they want to be as Naruto had experienced this cruelty first-hand.

"Relax, Tayuya-chan. Did I not say that I wasn't going to hurt you?" Naruto began, "I'm just going to lay you down in the bed as I'm sure the couch isn't very comfortable."

Tayuya calmed down a bit and decided to give Naruto the benefit of the doubt. Naruto entered the room, careful not to bump Tayuya's dangling legs against anything, and lifted the blanket with one of his feet as both of his hands were occupied. He gently put her down in the bed before covering her with the blanket before switching off the light and turning around to leave the room.

Tayuya, knowing the structure of the hut inside out, as she had took shelter here with the rest of the Sound Four when they were travelling to Konoha to retrieve Sasuke, knew that there wasn't another bed in the said hut. "Where do you think you're going?" She inquired curiously.

"To the couch to sleep," Naruto teased, "but if you want to, I can sleep with you Tayuya-c-h-a-n." Naruto said, stressing the 'chan' at the end.

Tayuya blushed madly at this, "In yo-your dreams, you pervert!" She breathed, "And don't you dare call me that." She tried to sound angry but utterly failed at doing so as she was exhausted.

Naruto laughed at this, infuriating her even more. He held up his hands in a peace gesture, "Ok ok, I won't…Goodnight Tayuya."

Tayuya spoke when he was about to close the door to her room, "Why?" She began while lying down in her bed, nervously twirling her fingers through her hair, "I mean, why are you doing this? Why help an enemy? Why didn't you just kill me and spare yourself the trouble?" Her voice rose towards the end of her question. She _needed_ to know. She had never experienced this type of behavior before. What kind of shinobi nursed their enemy back to health and was willing to let them go without asking for anything in return?

"I believe that every person deserves a second chance and even if I didn't believe that, I would still have saved you as I'm not that type of person that would let another person die when I can do something to help them."

With that said, Naruto closed the door. Meanwhile, Tayuya was repeating the blonde's words in her head, over and over again. "Maybe you aren't such a shithead, after all," she whispered to herself before finally letting sleep claim her.

XXXXX

Tsunade was rubbing her temples, frustration evident on her face as Jiraiya stood before her in her office.

"So should I pursue Naruto?" Jiraiya asked. "He couldn't have gone that far."

Tsunade slumped back in her chair, "What will you do when you do find him?"

"I thought you already knew," Jiraiya pointed out, "Akatsuki is after him so I'll train Naruto to the best of my abilities so when they arrive to extract Naruto's bijuu from him, he'll be able to fight back. Besides, I owe it to Minato. I wasn't there during Naruto's childhood, I wasn't there to protect him when it counted. I won't repeat the same mistakes again."

The Godaime Hokage sighed, "I'm not saying I like the idea," she began, "but I guess we have no choice on this matter. Naruto will be more safe travelling with you than he'll be here in the village, considering the fragile state Konoha is in after the invasion."

Jiraiya nodded in agreement, "So, should I leave right now?"

Tsunade simply said yes and slumped on her desk again, arms folded. Before Jiraiya left, he couldn't resist but tease her considering he wouldn't see her for another two and a half years. He shunshined behind her to grope her, but Tsunade having expected this, turned around in her chair at a speed that rivaled the Yondaime and punched him in the gut. Jiraiya went through the wall and went soaring into the air, leaving a trail of smoke behind him.

Meanwhile, the villagers were praying to not let the meteorite crash into the village.

* * *

Not much to say about this chapter. For all those who crave action, rest assured, it will begin in about a chapter or two. R&R.


	4. Chapter 4

Author's note: Sorry for the long wait. My social life has kept me busy for some time now. I'm kinda depressed by the favorite/follow to review ratio. A few words can motivate me a lot. So, after a long wait, I present you chapter 4.

 _Italics will represent inner thoughts._

* * *

Chapter 4

Feeling something caressing her cheek, she opened her eyes somewhat reluctantly, just to receive the shock of her lifetime. A mop of blonde hair blocked her vision, yellow wild spikes somehow looking alive as if taunting her over her own laziness. It was ironic if you thought about it because the owner of the lively _mop_ was snoring lightly beside her.

She noticed that she was buried in someone's chest and that said someone had also wrapped an arm around her slender waste but dismissed this as soon as it entered her mind. After all, _who_ would even dare to try touching her? No ordinary person, that's for sure! She was Tayuya, an elite warrior trained by one of the legendary _Sannin_ since she was seven years of age. The only possible scenario that registered in her still sleep addled brain was that she was dreaming again. Dreams had become a daily occurrence for her since a particular incident _very_ long ago but they were never this visual or graphic or so beautifully defined. If she was dreaming, who was she dreaming of? Her father? The thought actually comforted her a little.

Still, the frightening part yet remained. She could actually feel the slight pressure the person was exerting on her waist, the breathing on her exposed neck and the person's dull heartbeat matching her own.

The cramps on her injured body decided to make themselves known to her. She inwardly cursed.

She closed her eyes and minimized shuffling about lest the cramps should become more severe and before she knew it, the soothing heartbeat of her _father (?)_ lulled her to sleep. Tayuya was exhausted even though she had 'slept' for three frickin days. This was probably due to the fact that Tayuya was hungry; having not eaten for the past 3 to 4 days and her pride had not allowed her to ask Naruto for some food. She did not want to depend on anybody, not if she could help it.

XXXXX

Gaara sighed from frustration, thoroughly annoyed from all these official meetings the post of Kazekage had to offer. Top it up with the paperwork and he wondered just why he had taken this post in the first place. Surely the Kazekage had better things to do than sort out a squabble about a stolen seed for a Bowenia spectabilis plant between two villagers. Never mind the fact that technically this particular plant could not sprout in the weather Suna had to offer.

Currently he was contemplating if he should revert back to his old self as a blood loving demon to deal with the vermin who were talking about politics since the last five hours. He had half a mind to do so and he had no doubt that nobody would care if the bodies of these councilmen were found beneath a large pile of sand. Freaks of nature happened, even in deserts. It'd be easy to blame a sandstorm.

These people were not especially loved by the villagers and shinobi alike. The only thing stopping him was that Naruto would be disappointed in him. _Slightly._ Even Naruto was aware of how much a pain these geezers could be.

Gaara would occasionally stare at the blank white walls, as if they were more important than the meeting itself, which wasn't far off from the truth. They were used to support the building after all. The only person he thought it was worthwhile listening to was Baki, his former sensei. That man had a special aura around him, an aura that demanded respect, even from the Kazekage himself. And besides, Baki-sensei was more of a man of action than to sit on the sidelines and bicker like old women. He only spoke when the military or safety of Sunagakure was involved so Gaara had made a point to only listen when his sensei spoke. Even then, Gaara would just nod at the other members when he approved of something, which in his terms was equivalent to screaming himself hoarse.

Gaara was broken out of his musing suddenly by the sound of the door to the meeting room opening and a shinobi with brown hair donning the standard chuunin flak jacket entered, out of breath. He hastily bowed and presented a scroll to the Kazekage.

Gaara, recognizing the parchment as the one Konoha used, wasted no time in snatching it away from the chuunin and dismissed him with a wave of his hand. The council members were all curious but also partially dreading as to what Konoha had to say. Things were still shaky with the village hidden in the leaves after the Oto-Suna joint invasion on Konoha. Although a peace treaty had already been made, something so major could not be forgotten so easily or so quickly.

Gaara placed the parchment on the round table in front of him and bit into his thumb, drawing out blood, and placed it on the kanji for 'open'.

The scroll rolled open by itself and presented its contents to Gaara. He quickly read it, his expression betraying the slightest of worry. This was what made the senior members around him pale. Gaara usually remained stoic in even the most extreme of situations.

Baki was the first to speak up. "What seems to be the problem, Kazekage-sama?" He asked, his voice unwavering.

Gaara leaned forward, placed his elbows on the table and rested his chin upon his hands. He seemed to be thinking about something. After two long torturous minutes, he spoke. "Intelligence has arrived from Konoha which seems to be quite…interesting," Gaara chose his last word carefully. "According to the Hokage, Jiraiya of the sannin's intelligence network reports that a place has been found that allows a jinchuuriki to fully harness his or her respective bijuu sealed inside them. They thought it was best to inform us as they think it best to avail this opportunity. "

Everyone gasped at this, all words abandoning their minds. Murmurs of the Hokage's words being authentic were heard and the words 'revenge' and 'trick' echoed more than once in the room. Gaara raised his hand to quieten them down.

A man in his late forties with black eyes and brown hair was the first to snap out of his daze. "So what should we do?" a senior citizen named Goza asked all those who were present around him.

Baki was the first one to respond, "As much as I hate to say this, Kazekage-sama, Konoha is right. If the other villages hear of this, their military potential will rise drastically. We should send you to this _place_ as we will be more vulnerable than ever before if we do not as the other villages would have a jinchuuriki that has full access to their bijuu's power. If they any other village decides to attack us, they would prove to be formidable foes. Furthermore, if you decide to do this Gaara-san, you will be more respected than ever before. The villagers would never fear you of losing control over Shukaku again."

Gaara had remained silent during his former sensei's speech. He knew that what Baki had spoken was true in every way. A good kage should set his personal feelings aside and do what's best for the village. Not only would he grow stronger and gain the villager's respect, he would also be protecting the village as he would become a stronger Kazekage and no matter what, in the end, a kage's ultimate role is to protect his/her village. "I'll do it." Baki nodded as if he had expected this but the others were shocked yet again by how easily their Kazekage had complied. They were still getting used to the new Gaara, an individual who cared deeply for his village, not his old self who killed just because of the hell of it.

"What exactly is this place and where is it located?" Sajo, a man with shoulder length dark hair asked.

Gaara looked over at the scroll again before replying. "It seems to be a temple or shrine of sorts. According to Jiraiya, the jinchuuriki is to drink water from the waterfall located over there. After drinking it, the jinchuuriki will slip into a trance and enter his or her landscape. After that, the exact details are unknown." Gaara's tone indicated that he was a little hesitant to continue. "This place is located near the border of Takigakure. Despite this, the strip of land where this temple is located belongs to no country in particular so it's fair game for every village, all the more reason to hurry. I doubt Iwa, Kiri and Kumo would willingly let us anywhere near this place if they arrive before us."

Baki frowned, "They also have their own village's jinchuuriki safety to consider. Iwa probably does not view them as anything more than a weapon. I wouldn't put it past Onoki of the twin scales to forcefully send his village's jinchuuriki to this place. It's a great military move, in terms of both offense as well as defense. I can't say for sure for the rest of them. After all, the Raikage's brother is also a jinchuuriki. Also, Kiri's own Kage is a jinchuuriki but last time I heard, Yagura was occupied with a civil war on his hands. We need to send a strong force with you but a large number of shinobi would be susceptible. We need quality over quantity. So I would recommend sending myself, Temari and Kankuro as bodyguards with you."

Gaara simply nodded and clicked his fingers. An Anbu entered the room through the open window the window a second later. "Inform Temari and Kankuro that they should prepare themselves for a weeklong trip and meet up with me and Baki-san at the village gates in two hours tops." Gaara's expression now turned dark. "Do not take 'no' as an answer from them. If they ask any questions, tell them I will explain the situation to them on our way."

The Anbu bowed and shunshined away, leaving a pile of sand in his place.

Gaara dismissed the meeting and everyone left except for Yura, a dark eyed man with a goatee. Yura was deep in thought. He glanced at the letter from Konoha that was still on the table. He quickly memorized the map which displayed the location of the temple. He chuckled evilly and got up from his chair before exiting the room and making his way towards his own personal quarters. _Man, wait till Sasori-sama gets a load of this._

At night, eight hours later, an unauthorized messenger owl exited a room through the window and started to soar in the sky, flying over the sand buildings and huts of Sunagakure before it faded from sight, heading towards a direction the owl was already way too familiar with. In its talons was a scroll and on that scroll was a sealing seal that required a certain missing nin puppeteer's blood/poison to open.

All this happened with the patrol guards of Sunagakure on duty being none the wiser. No one amongst them was a genjutsu user and thus, they were unable to spot the rather large bird exit the village.

XXXXX

Not far off from the village, a pair of Sharingan eyes were glowing in the bright and sunny day, too sunny in the owner of the said eyes opinion. The man was 6 feet 1 inch in height and wore a dark grey cloak that covered most of his upper and lower body. He also wore a mask that resembled the one Kakashi wore. In fact, the mask was so similar to Kakashi's mask that it was frightening. All that could be seen of the man was his wild yellow locks of hair.

His hair waved back and forth in the slight wind that the barren landscape offered. The tomoe of his eyes had spun rapidly during the entire time the meeting had been held in the Kazekage tower, surveying the room from the outside.

The meeting ended and the Kazekage and council members started to depart, some shunshining away and some using the more practical way, the good old fashioned _door_. He smirked. His plan was proceeding as he had expected.

The man with the Sharingan disappeared with a yellow light, not leaving any indication at all that someone had listened to a top secret meeting. He had also been so careful that he didn't even leave an impression on the sand as he had purposefully only trodden on cold hard rocks. Experience did that to a person. The only thing he had failed to notice was the evil gleam in Yura's eyes who had remained in the room even when all the other senior members had already left.

XXXXX

Sasuke leapt backwards, using his body weight as an anchor to keep himself steady. He opened his legs slightly, and struck one of his hands out, in a way that resembled the Jyuuken stance of the Hyuuga, the only difference while the Jyuuken required the user to be relaxed, this particular taijutsu style required the user to be stiffer in order to deal maximum damage to the opponent.

He quickly did some hand seals at a speed that almost rivaled the copy nin and lightning flashed around his hand. The ground under him cracked slightly. **"Chidori!"** Lightning flashing in his hand, he charged ahead at a speed that made him blur with the surroundings when seen with the naked eye.

He ripped through 8 shinobi in one go but the squad captain was not a person to be taken lightly. Just before Sasuke reached the burly squad captain, he heard the shout of a jutsu. **"Wind release: Air Bullets."**

Sasuke saw the almost transparent gusts of wind aimed at him. He tried to dodge them but one of them collided with his left hand, the hand that had a Chidori wrapped around it. Blood gushed out and some of it landed on Sasuke's face. Sasuke winced but refused to cry out. As lightning was weak against wind, naturally the wind ninjutsu had been able to overpower his lightning style ninjutsu.

Unable to channel chakra into his left hand due to the fact that the said hand a hole in it, he took out his sword of Kusanagi out from its sheath by his right hand before channeling lightning chakra into it. **'Chidori Katana'**. The blade was now glowing and crackling with lightning chakra but his enemy was unfazed by this display of chakra control. "So that's how you want play, brat! Fine, I'll entertain you."

The squad captain that had been assigned to deal with Orochimaru quickly reached into his weapons pouch and took out a two scrolls, one hand holding each scroll. He whirled them around him in order to open the scrolls as quickly as possible and a poof of smoke surrounded him. After the smoke began to clear, he was seen to be holding two axes instead of the scrolls. The scrolls, now discarded, lay around his feet.

The squad captain now furrowed his brow in concentration as a layer of chakra now surrounded his axes. He swung them up in an arc above his head as a practice spin. Sasuke with his Sharingan activated saw that the axes appeared to even cut the air molecules around them. He stored this information in the back of his mind because it could prove useful in this fight later on

Deciding to confirm his suspicions, he charged ahead with his blade. He swung the Kusanagi in an upward slash, only for it to be blocked an axe. His opponent saw an opening and swung his other axe, aiming for Sasuke's abdomen. The burly man's move slowed down in Sasuke's vision due to his Sharingan and he leapt in the air, using the broad face of the axe as a stepping stone to further his momentum and landed behind the enemy. The jounin saw this and wisely retreated until he was a safe distance from the impending doom the blades would offer. He was not keep on getting stabbed in the back.

Sasuke glanced at his own weapon and what he saw confirmed his suspicions. The edge of the Kusanagi was chipped a little at the point where it had collided with the sharp edge of the axe. Only wind element could do this to a lightning enhanced blade so that meant the man was not channeling simple chakra into his weapons like most people would do but rather, he was channeling his affinity into them.

Knowing that he wouldn't be able to win using his preferred method, he quickly sheathed his sword. His enemy took this sign as a sign of quitting. "Yeah, that's right kid," he began in a mocking tone, "You had no chance of winning against me anyway. Your fate was already sealed when you came up against a person who naturally had an advantage over your lightning element." This caused the boy to inwardly smirk. "Be a good boy and tell me where the snake bastard is."

Sasuke simply stared at the jounin as if he had grown a second head. Not one to waste words, he began a set of hand seals while his Sharingan's tomoes began to spin. His opponent saw that he was preparing a lightning jutsu if the hand seals being performed by the Sharingan brat were anything to go by.

"You really are a fool to think that lightning will work against me. Haven't you learned that by now? You aren't fit to be a shinobi." With that said, he began spinning both of his axes in his hands so fast that they blurred even when viewed by the Sharingan.

Both of them shouted their jutsu at the same time but all was not as it seemed.

 **"** **Chidori Senbon"**

 **"** **Wind release: Art of the gust blade"**

The bigger man was now swinging and swiping his axes in sideway arcs at the same time. Several blades of wind were launched in the direction of the lightning Senbon. This wind technique focused on a broad area of attack so the opponent could not dodge it (unless the enemy knows the Hiraishin, of course).

He kept on slashing and swinging, creating more blades and thus was unable to notice the smirk that had made its way across Sasuke's face.

When both of the jutsu were about to collide, Sasuke dispelled the genjutsu he had placed before performing his hand seals for the _supposed_ Chidori senbon technique. The senbon turned into multiple balls of fire, each one the size of a small child and way smaller than the fireball jutsu but impressive nonetheless, when you considered the sheer quantity of them

The Jounin could only watch in sheer horror as the two jutsu crashed against each other. The small fireballs were fueled by the wind and the result was as you would expect. The once small fireballs were now about as large as a six feet tall grown man.

What was worse was that the fireballs did not deviate all from their intended course. The Jounin knew he was done for and had closed his eyes shut, embracing his fate. _My life ended by a simple C rank jutsu. What a disgrace…_

Sasuke's **Fire release: Phoenix Flower Jutsu** struck home. Sasuke had to close his eyes for a moment because of the brilliant flash of light that followed shortly afterwards. He opened them after awhile and watched the scene in front him with mild grotesque evident on his face. The ground was charred beyond recognition and the body of the dead jounin was lying in a newly formed, shallow but widespread crater. The said body was unrecognizable, fully covered with second and third degree burns.

He did not enjoy killing, not in the slightest bit. Kill or be killed was the sad but true motto of this cruel shinobi world, not the fantasy that had been drilled into their minds at the Konoha academy. He just did what he had to do and right now, he had done this to gain power so one day he could beat his brother in a one on one fight, if only for self satisfaction. He knew that by killing his brother, related to him only by blood, would not bring his family back, it would not bring back all those that had died on the day that was now dubbed as the 'Uchiha Massacre'. The only thing it would accomplish was that his soul could rest in peace by knowing that justice had been served on a silver platter.

Sasuke turned his head around when he heard the soft rustle of leaves as Orochimaru had decided to grace the battlefield with his presense.

"Kukukuku… Sasuke-kun, you did better than I expected. That was a missing nin team from Sunagakure consisting of eight genins and one jounin. Just look at the results! And I only just began to train you. By the time I'm done with you, you'll definitely come out top against your _brother,_ " Orochimaru said, stressing the last word

Unfortunately, the snake sannin knew just the way to rile Sasuke up and an angry person is easily manipulated.

Sasuke chose not to respond and was about to walk towards to the hideout to retire for the day. He would not admit to anyone that his chakra reserves were almost depleted. He made a mental note to himself to train extra hard to increase his reserves.

"Orochimaru-sama!" Kabuto wheezed, out of breath. He had run from the hideout at full speed because the news he had to share was too important to wait for.

"What is it?" Orochimaru asked.

"I have some interesting news," Kabuto began. "There was a slight disturbance in the Time-space continuum. I observed it on the device you were working on."

This was true. Ever since the snake sannin's failed attempt to destroy Konoha, he was trying to time travel so that he could fix his mistakes and accomplish his lifelong goal. Time travel was a concept that had been studied by only one shinobi before, Minato Namikaze of the hidden leaf, and even he had studied something slightly different. While Minato's Hiraishin was based upon the principal of travelling to a different dimension, time travel had an extra requirement.

While Minato used a kunai with a special sealing formula to re-summon himself back into the original world, time travel required the user to be able to re-summon himself/herself to a different world altogether, a parallel reality if you want to call it. This was easier said than done because for this to happen, the user had to brand that parallel world with a summoning formula. Now the problem arises… Just how the hell could they reach the parallel world in the first place?

"Oh, is that true?" Orochimaru asked cautiously. Whoever had finally perfected the art of time travel must have been a truly gifted and powerful shinobi indeed. "Who is it?"

"Th- That is unknown," Seeing his masters dissatisfied and pissed of look, he continued. "What I do know is that the person who has time travelled has very large chakra reserves as proved by the large time ripple he caused when he entered this world. Larger than Kisame Hoshigaki, who has the largest chakra reserves currently without housing a bijuu inside him. This leads me to believe…,"

"That the person who has time travelled is a jinchuuriki," Orochimaru interrupted, finishing Kabuto's sentence for him. Kabuto nodded while Orochichimaru continued, "Whoever it is might become a nuisance to us in the near future. I want you to locate the person and track him or her. That being said, the person also could have time travelled to defeat the Akatsuki. We have to confirm the person's identity before making a rash decision."

"I'll send someone to investigate the location where the time ripple occurred immediately."

"Don't waste time. Get to it."

Kabuto bowed and left, striding back to the hideout. Sasuke had been listening to the exchange with barely hidden curiosity.

XXXXX

The aroma of food woke up Tayuya, as her stomach growled uncontrollably. She heard a suppressed laugh, which caused her to open her eyes. She saw something directly above her head that greatly contrasted with the white of the ceiling, yellow hair… _wait..yellow!?_

Tayuya sat up as quickly as she could, which caused the blonde to jump back from surprise. Naruto stumbled and fell backwards, hitting his head on the cold hard floor in the process.

Not waiting for him to recover, Tayuya leaned forwards on her bed and picked Naruto up by the scruff of his collar. "What the fuck do you think you were doing shithead?" She asked in menacing tone, radiating a ton of killer intent.

The container of the demon fox cowered under her gaze. "I wa- I was," he gulped before continuing, "I was watching if you were awake or not. Look, I even made you breakfast!" He gestured towards the direction of the bedside table by making wild motions with his arms.

Tayuya, believing he was saying this just so he could escape from his _punishment_ for acting as a pervert, kept her death grip on his shirt and glanced at the table. Her breath caught in her throat.

There lay a feast…if a piece of toast, an omelet and a few pancakes could be considered that. Nonetheless, it was a feast in Tayuya's eyes. People tend to think like that if they have only eaten a solider pill daily as long as they could remember. She looked at Naruto in a new light. He made her reconsider her opinion of him with everything he did. She had only met him yesterday after waking from a three day long slumber but he was acting like he was her boyfriend.

This made her blush. She slugged him on the head because of making her blush. She wouldn't tell him that though. When Naruto was in the process of rubbing his sore head, she hugged him and muttered a quick 'thank you' in his ear and broke the hug before Naruto could even register it. With a loud 'Itadakimasu', she greedily began eating her breakfast. She happily sighed, savoring the taste the omelet left in her mouth.

Meanwhile, Naruto had been watching this and her hug had finally registered in his mind. He watched her happy expression, like that of a child that had received a new toy, as she ate the omelet before making her way towards the pancakes. He wondered if she had a dual personality psychological disorder. Making a note of asking her about this later, he contentedly watched her knowing that he would not get to see much of this side of her in the near future.

Fortunately for Naruto, Tayuya's mind was too absorbed in savoring this treat from the gods to even notice that Naruto was staring at her. Otherwise the consequences would have had been drastic… *shudders*

* * *

A/N: Please leave a review. The more I get, the more motivation I receive, the faster I write and thus the faster I update.

Oh damn…this was a long chapter! If someone wants to beta read this fanfic, please contact me.


	5. Chapter 5

Author's note:

Oh damn! It's been a long time since I updated, hasn't it? Life decided to catch up with me and I lost my motivation to write for a while. Furthermore, I also had my exams so I couldn't spare any time for this hobby but don't worry, I am back. So I won't waste much more of your time uselessly blabbing about my life and whatnot but I do have a question to answer that was left in the reviews.

 **ChronoMitsurugi:** I'm afraid I can't exactly say why the Kyuubi has decided to change his attitude but I assure you, this will not be a plot hole. All will be revealed in future chapters. The Kyuubi has a very valid reason for its change of attitude and I will get back to the exact reason later on into the story. Telling you would ruin the suspense. Sorry for being so ambiguous.

 _Italics will represent inner thoughts._

 **Jutsu and the dialogue of Kurama will be in bold.**

Note: This chapter continues from the same day as the previous chapter. If I decide to time skip, even for a day, it will be explicitly stated so, either in the author's note or in the story.

* * *

Chapter 5

"What do you mean you slept with me? I seriously hope, if just for your sake, that you're messing around with me right now."

The blonde in front of the furious redhead quivered with fear but still managed to speak as the idea of an early death did not appease him. So he did what he thought would save him, he rambled like an idiot. "It's not as it sounds, I swear! I heard you moaning in pain in the middle of the night so I just took of your casts thinking that your feet must have been stiff, but then your foot bent at an awkward angle and I panicked and used my shirt to tie the cast but then you grabbed my hand and I tried to get free but then you pulled me down on my bed…I mean it's technically your bed now, and then I couldn't escape from your grip and you snuggled up to me. I swear I didn't do anything!" Naruto went through his speech like the Fourth Hokage's Hiraishin.

Tayuya's expression had remained neutral during the time Naruto was speaking. This unnerved him. She just looked at him with blank eyes, a guarded expression on her face.

Naruto mentally kicked himself. _Great. Just fuckin great. I made her uncomfortable and now she's slipped her mask on again._ They had been making great progress as Tayuya hadn't tried to kill him (yet), excluding the misunderstanding in the morning. He had made her breakfast and then Naruto had gone off to train in the woods behind the hut. When he had stepped inside the hut three hours later, Tayuya had sprung up the question that had lead to their current predicament.

She had asked him if there was someone else living in the house, as she had sweared there was someone in her bed during the night. Naruto had just scratched his head, clearly embarrassed, and had answered that he was that _someone_. And you know the rest.

While Naruto had been berating himself, Tayuya had been searching his eyes for any apparent deceit and when she found none, she just sighed and hoped she would not regret her evaluation later on. She was sick and tired of all the betrayals she had faced in her short life. She decided she'd give him a chance. Those childlike and innocent eyes were clearly not capable of committing something horrendous such as rape, or were they? Tayuya shook herself from her dark thoughts. She did not need a trip down her memory lane. They were just too many horrors lurking there. That didn't mean she couldn't have fun with him.

"Are you saying that you slept with me in _my_ bed, naked from the waist up and to top it off, you also wrapped your arms around me?" Tayuya asked while cracking her knuckles.

Naruto was now sweating bullet. His mind was already working on forming escape routes from the hut. He also realized that he should have chosen his words more carefully. So he chose to remain silent and just flee from the scene but when Naruto spared a glance at Tayuya, he saw a small smirk forming on her lips. His mind caught up with Tayuya's prank.

The changes of expressions on Naruto were just too much for Tayuya and she burst out laughing. Meanwhile, Naruto pouted and sulked in the corner.

When Tayuya had recovered from her fit, she adopted a more serious look. She needed to make a point clear to Naruto and she doubted he'd take anything seriously if she was laughing while she talked. "Naruto."

This got his attention; this was only the second time she had called him by his real name. He cocked his head to the side to show her he was listening. She continued, "While you may have saved me from dying, I'm not going to think twice before castrating you if I find you doing anything perverted around me, got it?"

Naruto bit his lip to stop himself from replying with a witty or sarcastic comment. Even he could sense the somber mood. "Don't worry. I won't do anything of that sort. You can trust me but I guess trust is earned with time. I'm going to show you that I am not one of those male stereotypes you are used to."

Tayuya caught the hidden meaning behind his words. She reconsidered his intelligence. He had already deduced that she was generally wary of the opposite gender and it just wasn't him who she was hostile with. She would have to be more careful. Naruto wasn't as dumb as he looked. This could all just be a ploy to get her defenses down and extract information from her regarding Orochimaru.

Then again, she didn't owe any loyalty to Orochimaru after he had left her for dead. She should be plotting the snake's downfall, not protecting him. She contemplated her choices and outcomes.

If she told him all the information she had about Orochimaru and his plans, Naruto would leave her all alone as he would not have any more use for her. While she would get her revenge on her former master, was it worth it? The answer scared her. She was already favoring human contact over killing someone who had wronged her. This completely went against what had been ingrained in her brain since as long as she could remember. She must have been going soft.

She now focused on the present. Naruto was looking at her curiously, his eyes searching hers. She blushed from his gaze. _Yeah, she was definitely going soft._

XXXXX

Utakata observed the man in front of him carefully. He had been suspecting that Yagura would send someone to retrieve him sooner or later, civil war or not. You just do not let go of one of your village's jinchuuriki without a fight.

He had been tree hopping in the forests of Marsh country (yes, this is a real country in the anime. Search it up) when a man in a grey cloak had intercepted his path by landing on a branch of a tree in front of him. Utakata had crouched down in a taijutsu stance but did not engage. Engaging in a fight without assessing the situation first was always fatal.

The symbol on the man's forehead protector puzzled him. Instead of the usual forehead protector most Kiri ninja wore, this particular one had the kanji for 'shinobi' engraved on it. Perhaps, this man was in some sort of division he had never heard of before but that perplexed him even more. He had been a jounin and thus knew most of his villages' secrets. The only thing Utakata could conclude from his analysis was that the man was not a hunter nin as Yagura had implemented a strict policy of all hunter nins wearing masks.

The man also had pale blue and yellow hair, a combination he had never seen before in his village. Also, by the way the mystery man was masking his chakra as well as standing with complete confidence in his self all proved the fact that the man would be a formidable foe.

Utakata tightened his hand on his pipe. "What do you want?"

The man's expression remained blank. He reached into his cloak and pulled out a scroll. He wasted no time and threw the scroll straight towards Utakata.

Utakata reacted immediately. He quickly blew into his pipe and a small bubble formed. The bubble intercepted the scroll midway. When the scroll did not blow up, Utakata became confused. He had thought that the scroll must contain an explosive tag or something of the sort. This situation was one big headache after the other.

The mystery man spoke for the first time, although he did not say much. "Read it."

Utakata was hesitant. "Who are you?"

"That's not important but what are important are the contents of the scroll. You'll find them helpful. Just think of me as a person who opposes Yagura."

The words annoyed Utakata. He had not received any clear answer from the man. All that he had figured out was that the man in front of him was not from Kirigakure. The thought did little to comfort him. Kiri had bad relations with most other villages and he had killed quite a few people when he was an active jounin. This could all be a revenge ploy.

Eventually, curiosity won against reason. The scroll would not explode, that much was clear. The bubble floated back, the scroll still inside it. The scroll was deposited in Utakata's outstretched right hand and the bubble promptly burst.

Utakata's eyes scanned the contents and he was left in shock after the words had registered in his mind. He reread the scroll again, just to make sure he had not simply hallucinated it all.

Eyes wide, Utakata diverted his gaze from the scroll and directed it towards the man. "Why should I believe you? This could be a trap."

The man chuckled. "Oh believe me, if I wanted to harm you, I would not resort to a trap. There is no dignity in that."

A smirk made its way onto Utakata's lips. This man was way too confident for his own good. Perhaps he could use this as an advantage. "Don't get too cocky. I was one of Kiri's most fearsome jounins. You're bluffing."

The man raised an eyebrow at that. He flared his chakra to a quarter of what he possessed. He saw Utakata's face widen in shock and fear. Satisfied, he masked his chakra again. "Still think I'm bluffing?" he asked, a smug look on his face.

Utakata shook his head. He had never felt so much concentrated chakra before. Such a powerful person had no need to attack him using a trap; he'd do it head on. Utakata spoke after assessing and evaluating his choices. "So what if I do believe you, what's in it for you?"

It looked like the man was expecting this question. These days, everything had a price. "I'm hoping that you'll be able to help me overthrow Yagura."

Utakata contemplated about what the man had said and said, "No matter how much stronger I get after this, I doubt only us two can go against a whole shinobi village."

"Don't worry, we'll have help."

That was the last thing the mystery man said before he disappeared in a yellow light.

 _Since when did shunshins have a yellow glow?,_ thought Utakata.

Utakata just shook his head and concentrated on more pressing matters. If the man was to be believed, he would be able to overcome the bane of his life. The beast inside him would no longer control him.

With that thought, Utakata set out for the general direction of Takigakure.

XXXXX

"For the last time, Bee, you are not going. Now get out before I Lariat you!" A (Raikage) growled out.

The muscular man in front of the Raikage pouted and sulked like a child. "But brotha, you got to give me some time to feel the air on my skin, ya know."

A furrowed his brow in annoyance. "What I say goes. No more complaining. You've already learnt to control your bijuu and I doubt this temple will make you any stronger. And I refuse to send you to a place where there may be other jinchuuriki who can pose as a threat." A said, hostility creeping into his voice. It usually did when the safety of his little brother was concerned, never mind the fact that his little brother was nearing his forties.

Killer B frowned. He knew arguing with his brother when he was in the 'big brother' mode was pointless. So he just delivered a rap that made fun of his brother's moustache and left, barely dodging the table that had been flung at him.

After this particular fiasco, Bee strolled through the village streets at a leisurely place. He still received stares from the villagers but he was used to it. He knew Yugito had gone through the same thing. Although these stares were of a different nature than those stares he had received when he was a child.

He had gained the respect of the rest of the villagers during the third shinobi war when he had saved numerous lives, both civilians and shinobi alike. Now he was longer regarded with those cold, unforgiving eyes but rather with a sincere and honest smile full of gratitude.

He thought about the letter his brother had received from Darui. Darui had gone on a scouting mission to Fire country. They had received the letter this morning and it had caused quite a commotion in the Raikage's office. A meeting had been called immediately and all of the important officials had been present.

Shouting had been heard throughout the village as the Raikage had vehemently denied the suggestion of the elders, advisors and council during the meeting.

The council had proposed that they should send both of their jinchuurikis to the temple which would presumably give them control over their bijuus as well as allowing the host to fully harness the tailed beast chakra. The Raikage had thrown a fit against this and had went as far as calling the idea 'preposterous'. Some name calling had occurred and two sides had been made. One who supported the idea and one who were against it. These were the events that eventually led two advisors to be hospitalized.

Naturally, the Raikage had won. He was the strongest in their village, if not the brightest. Power meant everything to most shinobi of Kumo.

Darui had given no explanation of how he had gotten this information, giving no details of even who the source was. The only thing he had said was that the source he had received the information was very trustworthy and completely loyal to Kumo. This baffled Bee as he knew Darui very well personally. Despite the easy-going attitude the prodigy student of the third Raikage exuded, he was all business when the safety of Kumogakure was threatened. Perhaps Darui had reason to believe the transport system of letters was no longer secure. He must have not wanted to give up the disguise of one of their sources. Bee eventually concluded that this must be the correct explanation.

 **"** **This smells fishy, Bee. Nothing makes sense."** Gyuuki, the Hachibi said after listening to the rapper's musing carefully.

"Fool ya fool, it smells fishy cuz' you're an octopus. Glad you finally noticed your body odor."

 **"** **Bee, this is no time for jokes."** Gyuuki reprimanded harshly. Bee had just been about to speak but now he closed his mouth. He knew Gyuuki could be even worse than A in the mother department when he wanted to be. Seemingly satisfied, Gyuuki continued on, **"You remember the things I told you about the Sage of Six paths and how the tailed beasts came into creation?"**

The Hachibi waited for its container's nod before carrying on. **"Then you also might want to know that there was no temple at that time, like the one Darui described in his letter."**

Bee contemplated this new data provided to him. He then suddenly remembered one of his brother's many lectures about how the shinobi world was run. "What about the use of hero water?"

Gyuuki raised one of its non-existent eyebrows. **"What of it?"**

Bee recollected all the information he had about the hero water before answering, "If I recall correctly, the hero water increases the user's chakra tenfold for a short period of time in exchange for the user's life. What if jinchuuriki don't die because of their slightly enhanced healing? I think it's no coincidence that this temple is on the border of Takigakure, the same village that is the sole originator of hero water."

The Hachibi mulled over what Bee had said. **"It's a far-shot but still a plausible theory. You may be right this time."**

With that said, Gyuuki cut off the mental link. While Gyuuki did have an opinion about _literally_ everything and he wasn't afraid to voice it out, the final decision always rested on Bee. Bee suspected that Gyuuki loved it when he got the opportunity to say, 'I told you so!'

This decided that he was definitely going to the temple. He wanted to be stronger for his brother as he still couldn't match his brother's Lariat and this slightly disturbed their **Lightning Release: Double Lariat,** decreasing this Jutsu's efficiency. He had no doubt if he could match his brother's power, even if he had to use his tailed beast cloak, this technique could become the S rank his brother had envisioned. As it was, this jutsu was still an A rank. Furthermore, Bee was also willing to do almost anything if it meant he could protect his village better.

All he had to do before leaving the village was to convince a certain female blonde jinchuuriki to join him in this escapade.

* * *

A/N: I know I've made Killer B a little OOC but I had to do it for plot reasons. Do you know how hard it is to convey a serious situation using a completely non-serious character? Also, there will be little to no rapping from Bee. I ain't Eminem. On another note, I'm kinda depressed by the number of reviews. I barely find time to write and if you top if of with the lack of motivation, the chapters will take a significantly longer time to write and hence, update. So, don't be miser and click the button below. It'll only take a minute. I thought I was at least half a decent writer.


End file.
